Raiders under pressure: Hue Jackson’s esteem, among other things, is on the line

Football players aren’t much different than everybody else–they judge their boss based on results and on consistency.

Basically, the coach is good if he wins and what the coach said he believes yesterday should be the same today, tomorrow and the next day.

Right now, Hue Jackson is treading the borderline of these issues, not in the correct direction, as previously reflected in a ProFootballTalk.com report of some potential locker room dissent and also reflected by the stone-cold facts:

-The Raiders have lost two in a row at home, and are 4-4, facing Thursday night’s very big game in San Diego;

-Many of the things Jackson’s doing and saying now, since the death of Al Davis, don’t seem to be wholly connected to the things Jackson said and did to get this job and to project a bond with Davis during Al’s last days and in the hours after Al’s passing.

This is not to say that everything Jackson’s doing is wrong; he’s determined to set his own course and certainly has no fear of putting himself out there as the franchise’s top dog.

He could’ve just done whatever he felt Al Davis would’ve wanted him to do, and that would not have worked. It would’ve been the safe political play, but only Al could get away with being Al, and that didn’t always work, either.

As I’ve said from the beginning of Jackson’s self-ascension, you have to respect a guy so willing to take it all on. The Raiders had a void and Jackson stepped into it. Raced into it.

But you also have to point out that Jackson’s a rookie head coach AND acting general manager, and he’s never been either a head coach or had a real personnel role anywhere before now.

And he’s also a known big-talker, and sometimes seems to believe he can convince anybody of anything if he just keeps talking.

But talking isn’t what keeps teams together–talent does that, of course, and so does a steady hand in the locker room.

Tom Cable wasn’t the kind of offensive strategist that Jackson has proven to be, but Cable always had support in the locker room because he laid out simple principles and because he never seemed to put his own agenda out ahead of the players’.

Cable didn’t use pretty words, but pretty words that aren’t backed up by true conviction are cheap.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders locker room is beginning to wonder if their garrulous coach/GM/spokesman speaks from multiple sides of his mouth, based on several eyebrow raising things….

* Jackson makes a large point of saying all losses are his fault, until he’s asked about the details, and then it sure sounds like he doesn’t really believe anything was his fault.

All his swift line-up and roster moves are evidence of that: He fires the players because it must be their fault, right?

* Jackson swore absolute fealty to Al Davis and every iota of Al’s philosophy while Jackson was campaigning for the job (while Cable was still HC), and while Al was alive.

Then Davis passed away and Jackson still swore total fealty… BUT very quickly started moving hard from many of Davis’ core beliefs.

Davis didn’t want T.J. Houshmandzadeh; Jackson signed his old Bengals WR. Davis didn’t like blitzing; the Raiders now blitz under Jackson.

Davis loved Darius Heyward-Bey and signed Kevin Boss; in the last loss to Denver, DHB and Boss were bypassed for other options.

(I don’t fault Jackson for moving away from Davis’ ideas, but it’s tricker to do so convincingly when Jackson spent a great many months previously pronouncing that he was Al’s true disciple and authentic heir.)

* Jackson said he was totally committed to Jason Campbell until about two minutes after Campbell was hurt, then gave up the team’s future to grab after Carson Palmer, who most suspect Jackson really wanted all along.

Again, none of these things, separately, would mean much if the Raiders were winning.

But add them to the general sense that Jackson is in a bit over his head and to the home losses, and you can see where bunches of players might be a little quizzical about the post-honeymoon stage of the Jackson Era.

If they are still 100% with him, they should give a big effort in San Diego. They might or might not win, but they should play hard and avoid all those killer errors.

If the Raiders’ locker room is wandering away from Jackson, then we might see a bad one on Thursday.

Jackson’s the boss. Every game is a referendum on the boss, but this one is even heavier than normal.